What is the one image most identified with London? If you’ve lived here long enough chances are it’s neither Big Ben nor Buckingham Palace. You might say something very cool like Broadway Market, or something very glam like Harrods. But you’d be lying and/or cringe and/or naff, so spare yourself.
The correct answer is the cherry blossom: neutral, wholesome, charming, and eye roll-proof. And so I find it lamentable how little the trees seem to have bloomed this year — flourishing out of hibernation prematurely due to an unseasonably warm February and shedding their leaves almost as promptly.
